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2005 2009: 14 Oil and gas service companies used more than 2,500 hydraulic fracturing products containing 750 chemicals and other components.
UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE MINORITY STAFF APRIL 2011
______________________________________ CHEMICALS USED IN HYDRAULIC FRACTURING ______________________________________ Methanol Methanol has a high toxicity in humans. And most widely used chemical found in 342 hydraulic fracturing products Hazardous air pollutant on candidate list for potential regulation under the SDWA Can cause central nervous system depression, headache, dizziness, nausea, lack of coordination and confusion Between 2005 and 2009, the oil and gas service companies used 29 chemicals in 650 different hydraulic fracturing products that are known or possible human carcinogens, regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act for their risks to human health, or listed as hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.
The problem is not only what goes in, but also what comes out .
NORM: normally occurring radioactive materials
strontium, uranium, radon, etc. Heavy metals: lead, mercury, etc. Methane gas Chemicals and other additives
Methane contamination
Methane contamination of drinking water accompanying gaswell drilling and hydraulic fracturing
Stephen G. Osborn, Avner Vengoshb, Nathaniel R. Warneb, and Robert B. Jackson Edited* by William H. Schlesinger, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY, and approved April 14, 2011 (received for review January 13, 2011)
Methane concentrations were 17% higher on average closer to natural gas wells Average distance between PA drinking water wells and the Marcellus Shale = 2,900 5,900 feet Did not find contamination from fracking fluids But concern is whether chemical contaminants that are left underground (up to 85 90%) could follow similar trajectory over time
Risks to livestock
April 28, 2009 Fluid leaked from the well pad then ran into an adjacent pasture in South Caddo Parrish, Louisiana. 17 cows died from exposure to frac chemicals In July 2010 the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture quarantined 28 head of Tioga County cattle after they were exposed to natural gas wastewater seeping from a holding pond. The cattle were on pasture adjacent to the pond built to collect flow-back liquids
Toxic emissions
Fugitive Emissions Particulate Matter Dust Hydrogen Sulfide Ozone Carbon Monoxide Nitrogen Oxides Sulfur Dioxide VOCs BTEX PAHs Methane x x x x x x x o o o x x x x x x x x x x x Dehydration x x Vehicles x x x o x x x x x x x x x x Flaring Engines x Pits Venting
Municipal Sludge
EPA cannot assure the public that current land application [of sewage sludge] practices are protective of human health and the environment.
Soil contamination
Heavy metals found in soils near gas sites: Cadmium Chromium Arsenic Lead Mercury 3,280 mg/l strontium
Drilling well pads, roads, ponds and other infrastructure in New York farmland
Each well pad can be 4 5 acres (or larger) Contains multiple wells up to 8 per well pad Multiple horizontal fracs
Economic Impact?
Boom and bust job creation and job loss tend to follow pattern of boom & bust Few local jobs relatively small, experiencedriven workforce (roughnecks, rig crews) who travel from well site to well site June 2009 study: single well could directly create 11.53 full-time jobs/year, not compounding yearly (depends on number of new wells drilled). 98% of these jobs required only while wells are being drilled (Marcellus Shale Workforce Needs Assessment). Only 0.17 long-term, full-time permanent jobs associated with the production phase of development for each well drilled, but jobs compound annually. 100 wells drilled each year for ten years = 17 production jobs each year = a total of 170 production jobs after 10 years Economic boom doesnt typically factor in high costs of industrialized gas drilling bridge repairs, declines in farming and tourism revenue, reduced property values and property tax revenues
Ron Gulla
Landowner, Agriculture Producer Washington County, PA Testimony to first-hand experience with horizontal and vertical well fracturing experimentation on own land and neighboring parcels Exposures started in his community in 2005
Recommendation
The Ohio General Assembly should immediately issue a moratorium ordering the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) to withhold approval of new well permits involving high volume, horizontal hydraulic drilling, exploration, or extraction until such time as drilling practices are demonstrated to be safe for the environment and human health, and are properly regulated.